Sorry for the easy (to everyone but me probably!) question--I have tried to search the Calibre forum but can't find the easy explanation I need
I have a Dropbox account--I got it a while ago and never did anything with it, but would like to put my calibre library on it.
So, anyway, I just want to be sure I am not deleting my library or something equally horrible. So I would go to the library icon and "create library" , send it to a new location (C:\Users\my name\Documents\My Dropbox, and "use the previously existing library at the new location"?
I feel it can't be that easy and I'm probably missing something So somebody please tell me yea or nay as to whether I have figured it out.

If you are really afraid about losing your db, you can copy the Calibre library folder into your dropbox folder manually and then just open the new location in dropbox. That way you will have another backup copy and you can never have too many backups as far as I'm concerned. After you copy, open the library by choosing Switch/create library and search for the new dropbox library and "use the previously existing library at the new location". Just make sure you keep straight which library is which so you don't work in the wrong one - maybe give the new folder you copy to in dropbox a different name so you don't mix them up.

I put my calibre library in my Google Drive folder. No problems so far. Font see why it wouldn't work with Dropbox.

There is a sticky post in the Related tools forum that warns against using Google drive for calibre. If things have changed I'd be surprised. What OS are you using and are you by chance only using one computer with Google Drive?

Moderator NoticeFYI to folks new to the Calibre forum. There are sticky posts at the top of the Calibre forum and at the top of each Calibre sub-forum full of information pertinent to all users. Unlike other forums these sticky posts are not outdated and provide a valuable resource for all users of Calibre.

There is a sticky post in the Related tools forum that warns against using Google drive for calibre. If things have changed I'd be surprised. What OS are you using and are you by chance only using one computer with Google Drive?

I'm using Mac OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I am in fact only using one computer with Calibre at the moment -- not by choice, my other MacBook crapped out on me.

That said, I haven't had any problems with Calibre on the MacBook I'm using. No database glitches or like that.

Sorry for the easy (to everyone but me probably!) question--I have tried to search the Calibre forum but can't find the easy explanation I need
I have a Dropbox account--I got it a while ago and never did anything with it, but would like to put my calibre library on it.
So, anyway, I just want to be sure I am not deleting my library or something equally horrible. So I would go to the library icon and "create library" , send it to a new location (C:\Users\my name\Documents\My Dropbox, and "use the previously existing library at the new location"?
I feel it can't be that easy and I'm probably missing something So somebody please tell me yea or nay as to whether I have figured it out.

Mary

"Use previously existing library at new location" will look for a library metadata.db file in the folder you named. This works if a library is already there, and calibre just connects to it.

"Create an empty library at the new location" creates a new metadata.db file and builds you an empty library there.

"Move current library to new location" creates a new library just like the second option, then moves your current library and all its data to the new library and deletes the original one. (This is exactly the same as cutting and pasting the whole library folder, except calibre can't use cut and paste so it has to create and delete files instead. Sometimes it is really slow.)

If you want to just move your library into the Dropbox folder, use the third option.

I find it to be too slow though, so instead I do this:

You can go to C:\Users\my name\Documents\My Calibre Library and cut and paste "My Calibre Library" into the Dropbox folder. Use "remove library" to disconnect to your library (which you just moved). Then use the first option to "discover" the new location in your Dropbox.

I'm using Mac OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I am in fact only using one computer with Calibre at the moment -- not by choice, my other MacBook crapped out on me.

That said, I haven't had any problems with Calibre on the MacBook I'm using. No database glitches or like that.

Google uses numbers in parentheses for version tracking. Calibre uses numbers in parentheses for unique identifiers of books. If you sync a second computer you could be screwed. I haven't tested anything but the thread pointed to by the link in the sticky post outlines the problem.

You can go to C:\Users\my name\Documents\My Calibre Library and cut and paste "My Calibre Library" into the Dropbox folder. Use "remove library" to disconnect to your library (which you just moved). Then use the first option to "discover" the new location in your Dropbox.

Of course it is so much easier on linux computers. Just right click on the library folder and click create shortcut, move the shortcut to your Dropbox, and it syncs. But those are symlinks, which Unix/Linux created, and Windows XP can't make them Windows Vista and on can create them, but only in the command line.

What this does is creates a fake folder in your Dropbox which looks like a shortcut, but when Dropbox reads it, it thinks it is the real folder. This is different from a shortcut which is really just a file which is run as a program to open the folder it is a shortcut to.

Ahem - they were in Data Generals RDOS, Digital Equipment's TOPS and General Electrics GECOS, I'm pretty certain they were in Multics and I'd be surprised if they were not also in Burrough's MCP. All of which predate the development of Unix, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie worked on the Multics project at MIT prior to creating Unix at Bell.

The evolution of Operating Systems didn't start with Unix, although one could argue its more or less come to halt ever since.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

...Windows XP can't make them ... Here is a program to create a GUI for the process: Link Shell Extension

At the bottom of the LSE page there's a link to a library from Masatoshi Kimura that exposes the functions to create symlinks on XP - they were always there, just that MS kept them hidden. I used the library for many years on NT.5.1 and XP (NT 5.2).

Sorry if this has been asked before but I'm pretty new to apps, ereading and calibre etc. I have a dropbox account and have put my calibre file/library in it using my windows 7 laptop. When I try to access it via my samsung galaxy note 10.1 tablet it tells me to download an app to open the file. What is the best android app for this?

Thanks for the reply, but the problem I have is more to do with accessing calibre from my dropbox on my android tablet. There are several apps out there to access calibre on android but I really wanted advice about which would best suit accessing via the dropbox.